APN shares down as hunt for new CEO begins

APN News and Media has moved quickly to appoint a new chairman but could face a difficult search for a new chief executive and independent directors following a boardroom rout.

APN named long-time director Peter Cosgrove as its new chairman on Tuesday, after the embattled publisher's two major shareholders forced out his predecessor Peter Hunt and chief executive Brett Chenoweth.

Three independent directors - Melinda Conrad, John Harvey and John Maasland - also left amid the stoush with APN's largest shareholders, Independent News and Media (INM) and funds manager Allan Gray, over a proposed capital raising.

Mr Cosgrove is a former director of the Ireland-based INM and has sat on the APN board since December 2003.

Together, INM and Allan Gray hold a combined 51 per cent of APN's stock and were opposed to the issue of new shares as a way to deal with APN's debt pile.

APN made no mention in its brief statement announcing Mr Cosgrove's appointment about who would replace Mr Chenoweth as chief executive.

Some media reports have suggested INM could parachute in its own current chief executive, Vincent Crowley.

Mr Crowley joined APN's board in 2009 and served as chief executive between 2000 and 2002.

Former Fairfax Media chief executive Brian McCarthy's name has also been bandied about.

The stock has fallen about 69 per cent since peaking last March at 95 cents.

An analyst at media consultancy Fusion Strategy, Steve Allen, said finding individuals of talent willing to put their hand up and join the APN board, or run the company, would be a challenge.

"Who do they think they are going to get to run this company and what board members do you think they are going to attract?" Mr Allen said before Mr Cosgrove's appointment was announced.

"No one wants this.

"The behaviour by these two shareholders is appalling."

The board changes come ahead of APN's full year results on Thursday.

In a trading update in December, APN said it expected net profit for calendar 2012 of between $51 million and $54 million.

That would represent a decline of up to 34 per cent from the $78 million net profit in 2011.

Mr Allen said APN's reliance on its regional newspapers to generate the bulk of its revenue - as readers shifted online - left the company in a difficult position and would continue to put pressure on the share price.

"There is only one way for the share price out of this and that is down," Mr Allen said.

Some analysts had cut their APN share price targets to as low as 23 cents in response to recent developments.

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